San Antonio College Library

The Spanish empire was the first of the great seaborne empire of western Europe. It lasted more than three hundred years before breaking up in the early nineteenth century in the civil wars between rival generals and liberators. This book examines the complex administration of the empire; its economy, based on gold and silver but dependent on fleets; its social structure; the influence of the Catholic Church; and the rift between American and European...

"This book had its inception in a series of twelve lectures delivered in the spring of 1934 at the Instituto Hispano-Cubano of the University of Seville in Spain"--Foreword.

"In this panoramic study, David J. Weber explains how late eighteenth-century Spanish administrators tried to fashion a more enlightened policy toward the people they called barbaros, or "savages." Even Spain's most powerful monarchs failed, however, to enforce a consistent, well-reasoned policy toward Indians. At one extreme, powerful independent Indians forced Spaniards to seek peace, acknowledge autonomous tribal governments, and recognize the...

"This collection of essays is the first book published in English to provide a thorough survey of the practices of science in the Spanish and Portuguese empires from 1500 to 1800. Authored by an interdisciplinary team of specialists from the United States, Latin America, and Europe, the book consists of fifteen original essays, as well as an Introduction and an Afterword by renowned scholars in the field. The topics discussed include navigation, exploration,...